Sley motion for terry loom



Sept. 5, 1967 GOTZ ETAL SLEY MOTION FOR TERRY LOOM Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Sept. 17, 1965 Inventors HANS GOTZ JULIUS DREWITZ BY? I MIJQWMW ATTORNEYS p '5, 1967 H. GOTz ETAL I 3,339,589 I SLEY MOTION FOR TERRY LOOM 3 Sheets-$heet 2:

Filed Sept. 17, 1965 Inventors Z n Ms W Y 2 E m E R N .0 D R G IW 0 3 T L J A 1 HJG Y B Sept. 5, 1967 H. GOTz ETAL SLEY MOTION FOR TERRY LOOM 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Sept. 17, 19 65 i "w l" FIG. 4

FIG. 5

Y Z W S W R 2 E o T R E TUOD N NG R E s I O VSU. T m N L J T AU [A H J 0 United States Patent Ofi 3,339,589 Patented Sept. 5, 1967 ice 3,339,589 SLEY MOTION FOR TERRY LOOM Hans Giitz and Julius Drewitz, Steinhagen, Westphalia,

Germany, assignors to Sulzer Brothers Limited, Winterthur, Switzerland, a Swiss company Filed Sept. 17, 1965, Ser. No. 488,174 Claims priority, application Switzerland, Sept. 18, 1964, 12,059/64 7 Claims. (Cl. 139-26) This invention relates to a loom for the manufacture of terry towellin g.

The present invention provides a loom having a sley shaft, an element fixed to the sley shaft to oscillate therewith, a sley displaceably mounted on the element, and a drive connected to the sley and arranged to move the sley relatively to the element during sley movement to shorten the throw of a reed mounted on the sley. The invention is useful in the manufacture of terry towelling.

With this arrangement it is possible to mount the sley on a number of bearings or the like on the sley shaft distributed across the whole width of the cloth without interfering with the warp threads or the woven cloth. If a sufiicient number of such bearings is provided, the throw of the reed may be made substantially uniform over the whole width of the cloth with little or no sagging or vibration of the sley or reed. This is most important when the width of the cloth is considerably, for example 10 feet, and the loom is running at a high speed, for example from 200 to 300 picks per minute. The absence of sagging and vibration leads to the finished cloth having loops of substantially uniform height.

Another feature of the invention is that when the sley stroke is shortened the pivoting angle of the sley and reed remains unaltered. All that happens is that during the pivoting or oscillating movement, the sley and the reed are moved back towards the warp beam. In gripper shuttle looms in which a shuttle guide comprising various guide teeth mounted on the sley must be pulled downwards from the shed during the sley stroke this is advantageous because, when the sley stroke is shortened, the shuttle guide nevertheless may completely leave the shed to clear the way for the picked weft thread during beating up as is the case for normal reed throw, inasmuch as the sley, reed and shuttle guide have the same angular position during beating up for the normal throw and for the reduced throw.

The invention may be carried into practice in various ways but one embodiment will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic overall view in front elevation, and from the cloth end, of a gripper shuttle type terry towelling loom embodying the invention;

FIG. 2 is a section to an enlarged scale through a part of the loom;

FIG. 3 is a side view of the top parts of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary sectional view similar to that of FIG. 2 but illustrating the sley in the extreme clockwise position of its full throw; and

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary view similar to that of FIG. 4, illustrating however the shortened throw of the sley.

The loom shown in the drawing comprises a loom frame having two uprights 1, 2 (FIG. 1). Disposed between them are a warp beam 21 for a ground warp 22, a warp beam 23 for a pile warp 24, the warp beam 23 having a brake device 50, a cloth beam 3 which takes up finished terry towelling 4, means (not shown) for guiding and tensioning the warps 22, 24 and the cloth 4, and a loom main shaft 5. An electric driving motor 7 and a clutch 6 including a brake are disposed outside the upright 1. The clutch, brake and motor can, if desired, be disposed on the right-hand side of the loom as seen in FIG. 1. Also visible in FIG. 1 are a reed 8 for beating-up weft threads 10, heddles 9 for the ground warp 22, and a Jacquard machine 25 which is disposed above the loom and which has pulling cords 26 extending through a hole board 40 and serving to shed the pile warp 24 and to control various events to be described in greater detail hereinafter. The loom also comprises various drive mechanisms (not shown) connected to the main shaft 5.

The weft yarn 10 is drawn oif a supply bobbin 11 and secured to a gripper shuttle 12, visible in FIG. 1, for each insertion into warp shed 27, visible in FIG. 2. The shuttle 12 is picked by a picking mechanism 13 through a shuttle race 14 and runs as far as a catching mechanism 15. One selvedge-forming device 16 is provided at each edge of the warps 22, 24, near the mechanisms 13, 15 and comprises: means for centering the inserted weft yarn 10; an edge thread clamp for clamping the weft thread; and, on the picking side, means for severing the weft thread. Also associated with each system 16 is a selvedgeforming needle which inserts the free weft end into the following shed to form a selvedge at the edge of the fabric. A detector 17 detects the entry of the shuttle 12 into the catcher 16, and, if the shuttle reaches the shed late or not at all, releases the clutch 6 and applies the brake to stop the main shaft 5.

At a number of locations, for example three, distributed across the width of the loom the main shaft 5 carries pairs of cam discs 32, 34. Only one of these pairs is visible in FIG. 2. The cam disc 32 has a raised part 31 and the cam disc 34 has a recessed part 33. A sley shaft 35 extends parallel with the main shaft 5 and has secured to it at each of the said locations, opposite the cam discs 32, 34, a double-armed rocking lever 36, 37 having rollers 38, 39 which run on the cam discs 32, 34. The sley shaft 35 is therefore oscillated arcuately about its axis by the main shaft 5 once per revolution thereof.

At a number of places, e.g. eight places, over the Width of the cloth the sley shaft 35 has afiixed to it a slide block 41 which therefore oscillates with the sley shaft 35. A sley 42 which carries the reed is disposed on a reed lever 43 on which a guide 44 is formed. This is pushed over the slide block 41 so that the reed 8 and sley 42 are reciprocable on the side blocks 41.

The sley lever 43 has afiixed thereto a lateral hollow boss 45, shown in each of FIGS. 2, 4 and 5, whose inside diameter is larger than the outside diameter of the sley shaft 35 so as to provide a substantial clearance between the two. The boss 45 is engaged on its cylindrical outer surface by a two-part shell 46 afiixed to a stroke-shortening lever 48 which pivots about a pin 47 at the lower end of that lever, as seen in FIG. 2. Specifically, the lower end of lever 48 includes a longitudinally extending slot 53 which engages via a slide block 49 with the pin 47. The pin 47 is formed on or affixed to a bracket 52 and the bracket 52 may be clamped to the loom frame over a range of vertical positions by means of a screw fastening 51..The slide block 49 thus has the form of a sleeve with a cylindrical inner surface engaging the pin 47 and with two parallel outer faces engaging the sides of the slot 53. Means are provided, to be described hereinafter, whereby the lever 48 may be rotated about its pivot 47 from the position shown in FIGS. 2 and 4 in a counterclockwise direction to the position shown in FIG. 5, and back again. In the position shown for lever 48 in FIGS. 2 and 4, the sley executes its full stroke with oscillation of shaft 35 and guide block 41, and the boss 45 and shell 46 are coaxial with the shaft 35. In the position shown in FIG. 5, guide 44 is shifted to the left on slide block 41, bringing the sley closer to the axis of shaft 35, shortening the stroke of the sley, and especially moving to the left the extreme right-hand position which the sley reaches with oscillation of shaft 35.

The sley shaft 35 has secured to it, at each of a number of placese.g. four placesacross the width of the cloth, an arm 54 articulated to a link 55 pivoted at its other end to a lever 56 secured to a shaft 57. A forked lever 58 secured to the shaft 57 engages with a lifter 61 which has a hook 59 at one end; three lifters are provided over the width of the cloth. The lever 58 may be adjustably fixable on shaft 57. Each lifter 61 is pivoted, via a link 63 having a screw-threaded adjustment 62, to a bent lever 64 which is fixed on a stationary (but rotatable) spindle 65. At its bend the lever 64 has a roller 68 cooperating with a cam 71 on a shaft 69. The main shaft acts, via a sprocket 72 on the shaft 69 and via a roller chain 73, to drive the cam 71 at a ratio of, for

example, 1:3i.e., so that the shaft 69 rotates once for three main shaft revolutions.

A spring 74 is connected to a lever 67 secured to the spindle 65 and tends to pivot the spindle and its levers clockwise in FIG. 2 and thus to keep the roller 68 in engagement with the cam 71. Connected to another arm 66 secured to the spindle 65 is a rod 75 pivoted at its top end to a double-armed lever 77, 78 rotatably mounted on a stationary pivot or spindle 76. The arm 78 extends through a slot 79 in a part 81 of the loom frame where a pawl 83 pivotable around a pivot 82 is mounted. A spring 84 connected to the pawl 83 tends to pivot the pawl anticlockwise in FIG. 3 about the pivot 82. Also connected to the pawl 83 is one of the pulling cords 26 of the Jacquard machine 25 shown in FIG. 1, the particular pulling cord concerned having the reference 26a in FIG. 3. The pawl 83 has a shoulder 85 cooperating with a double-armed lever 86, 87 which is pivoted at 88 and is biased by a spring 89 which tends to pivot the lever 87 clockwise around the pivot 88 as seen in FIG. 3. Another pulling cord 26b of the Jacquard machine is secured to the arm 87. The arm 86 has a shoulder 91 which, when the lever 86, 87 pivots clockwise, moves below the arm 78 to prevent it descending.

In its ascent the hook 59 of the lifter 61 can, if it is moved further to the left in FIG. 2, cooperate with a pin 92 which pivotally connects to a spring connection member 96 a lever 93 pivotable about a stationary spindle 94. A spring 97 connected to the member 96 tends to pivot the lever 93 anticlockwise in FIG. 2 and to retain a stop arm 98 secured to the spindle 94 in engagement with a resilient stop or abutment 101 whose vertical position can be adjusted by means of a screw-threaded connection 99. A lever 95 also pivoted on the spindle 94 but fixed with reference to lever 93 is pivotally connected at 104 to a link 102 which is pivoted at 103 to the strokeshortening lever 48. The parts 95, 102 form a toggle lever whose toggle joint 104 can hinge downwards when the levers 93, 95 pivot clockwise around the pivot 94.

Above the parts just described the ground warp 22 and the pile warp 24 move to the right as seen in FIG. 2 and form the shed 27; the ground warp 22 goes over a back rest 20 and is in considerable tension, and the pile warp 24 goes over another back rest 30 and, because of the adjustment of the brake device 50, is at a lower tension. Healds 105, 106 control the ground warp 22, and the Jacquard healds 260 on the cords 26 control the pile warp 24. A weight 107 loads each Jacquard cord.

Operation is as follows: When the raised part 31 of the cam disc 32 passes under the roller 38, the sley shaft 35 is rotated to the right in FIG. 2, the roller 39 simultaneously engaging with the recessed part 33; the sley 42 and reed 8 are therefore also pivoted to the right together with the shuttle race 14. In the course of this motion of the sley to the right, the last weft yarn which has been inserted-denoted here by the reference 108is beaten on to the cloth 109a. Also, the parts 54, 55 pivot the levers 56, 58 clockwise around the pivot 57 so that the lifter 61 in the position shown in FIG. 2 is moved upwards.

The extent to which the last weft yarn is beaten up varies with the position of lever 48, and this depends in turn on whether the hook 59 on lifter 61 does or does not engage with pin 92 in that upward motion of the lifter. With the parts in the position shown therefor in FIG. 2, wherein the high part of cam 71 is under roller 68, the hook 59 passes the pin 92, the levers 93, stay in the position shown, the toggle joint 104 stays straight, and the stroke-shortening lever 48 stays in the position shown so that the reed 8 makes its normal complete throw. The fully beaten-up weft thread 108 moves so far to the right in FIG. 2, together with the two previously inserted but not fully beaten-up weft threads 109, 111 (sliding along the pile warp 24) that a portion 112 of the pile warp 24 is caused to form a loop like the loops 113.

As the shaft 5 continues to rotate, the cam disc 34 pivots the reed 8 back to the position shown in FIG. 2, and the lifter 61 goes to the bottom position shown. Meanwhile, the shaft 69 rotates so far that the high part of the cam 71 moves past the roller 68 so that the spring 74 can pivot the levers 64, 66, 67 clockwise around the pivot 65, the roller 68 running on to the lower part 114 of the cam 71. The lifter 61 is therefore pivoted clockwise around a pivot 115 on lever 58, in preparation for the engagement of the hook 59 with the pin 92.

When the high part 31 of cam 32 next moves below the roller 38 again and the reed 8 pivots for beating-up, the lifter 61 is moved upwards again through the agency of the parts 55, 56, 58, the hook 59 engaging under the pin 92 so that the toggle joint 104 is broken downwards and the stroke-shortening lever 48 is pivoted anticlockwise around the pivot 47, the sley 42 and reed 8 moving to the left in FIG. 2. The stroke of the reed 8 as it performs its beating-up movement is therefore shortened and there follows a pick corresponding to the wefts 109, 111.

FIG. 5 illustrateshow the breaking of the toggle joint by engagement of hook 59 on pin 92 swings lever 48 counterclockwise, as seen in FIGS. 2, 4 and 5, shifting the elements 8 and 42 to 46 to the left. The extreme righthand position of the reed is therefore shifted to the left, effectively shortening the throw of the sley without changing the angle through which the sley is rotated. With the sleeve coupling provided by elements 45 and 46 between the sley and lever 48 thus shifted out of the relation coaxial to shaft 35 which is illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 4, the sleeve coupling and the lever 48 must themselves oscillate with oscillation of the shaft 35. This entails a small up and down motion of the lever 48, which is however provided for at the pin and slot coupling provided at the lower end of the lever by means of the slide block 49 which fits about pin 47 in slot 53 of the lever 48. This up and down motion is moreover so small as not to afiect significantly the operation of the toggle, illustrated in FIG. 5, in drawing the upper end of lever 48 to the left.

When on this second cycle of the main shaft 5, the cam disc 34 pivots the sley shaft 35 back; the lifter 61 descends and the spring 97 returns the toggle joint 104 to the extended position, such position being reached when the stop lever 98 strikes the resilient sound-damping stop 101. The sley 42 and reed 8 are again in the position shown in FIG. 2. Since the shaft 69 rotates more slowly than the main shaft 5, the next weft is also beaten up on the cloth 109 with a reduced throw of the sley.

During the fourth pick, however, the high part of the cam 71 moves under the roller 68 again. The lifter 61 therefore pivots anticlockwise around the pivot 115 and so cannot during the next beating-up come into operation and break the toggle joint 104. The parts 42, 8 are not pushed back (i.e. to the left in FIG. 2) on the slide block 41, the next weft is fully beaten-up, the two previously inserted partly beaten-up wefts being advanced and forrning another loop 113.

If a plain portion devoid of loops 113 is required to 'be woven at any time, for instance, at the beginning or end of the towelling fabric, the Jacquard machine 25 must pull the cord 26a upwards against the force of the spring 84 and pivot the pawl 83 clockwise around the pivot 82. This action releases the levers 86, 87 so that the spring 89 moves a shoulder 91 below the arm 78. When the high part of the cam 71 moves out from under the roller 68 and is replaced by the bottom part 114, the spring 74 cannot pivot the levers 64, 66, 67 clockwise around the pivot 65 since the pivoting movement of the lever 77, 78 is blocked. The lifter 61 therefore remains continuously in the inoperative position shown so that the toggle joint 104 stays straight for all the following throws of the reed 8. Consequently, only full beating-up occurs and so a plain portion of fabric is produced.

To change back to terry towelling weave with varying beating-up, the Jacquard machine 25 must pull the cord 26b upwards. This action pivots the lever 86, 87 anticlockwise around the pivot 88 against the force of the spring 89. The shoulder 91 becomes inoperative. The arm 86 moves in front of the shoulder 85, to be retained by the descending pawl 83 in the position shown in FIG. 3. The levers 64, 66 can therefore pivot again clockwise around the pivot 65. Such pivoting occurs when the lower part 114 of the cam 71 moves under the roller 68. The terry-towelling cycle is then restored-i.e., two picks with a reduced beating-up and one pick with normal beatingup to form the loops.

The angle through which the sley 42, reed 8 and shuttle race 14 rotate during beating-up is always the same, whether these items are in the front position, shown in FIG. 2, for normal complete beating-up or whether they are in a more rearward position producing a reduced beating-up. In contrast to constructions where the angle of rotation is reduced, an advantage of the construction described is that even when the system is performing the reduced beating-upi.e., the sley and reed are in the rear positionthe shuttle race 14 pivots far enough around the sley shaft 35 clockwise to ensure that it leaves the shed 27.

Adjustment of the angular position of the lever 58 relatively to the lever 56 is a way of varying the inoperative movement which the lifter 61 performs before the hook 59 engages with the pin 92, the effect of such variation being to vary the degree of bending of the toggle joint 104. Consequently, the amount by which the sley 42 and reed 8 are pushed back on the slide block 41 is varied. The relative position of the lever 58 therefore provides a coarse adjustment for altering the beating-up. Any desired construction may be provided to permit adjustable fixing of the angular separation of levers 56 and 58.

On the other hand, altering the vertical position of the slide block 49 alters the vertical position of the pivot of the stroke-shortening lever 48, the result being to provide only a slight variation of the amount by which the sley 42 and reed 8 move back during the ascent of the plate 61. Adjustment of the slide block 49 thus provides a fine adjustment for the beating-up.

Otherwise stated, the slot and pin coupling provided between lever 48 and the loom frame by elements 47, 49 and 53 permits not only the minor up and down motion of lever 48 which must occur when the coupling of the lever to element 44 at elements 45 and 46 is eccentric to the sley shaft 35. More importantly, shift of the position of pin 47 on the loom frame, by adjustment of member 52 at its clamp 51, alters the separation of points 47 and 103. When the separation is increased, for example, a given shift of pivot 103 to the left on breaking of the toggle joint will mean a smaller shift to the left of the sley, by sliding motion at the guide interfaces between elements 41 and 44.

The number of slide blocks 41 and sley levers 43 disposed on the sley shaft 35 can be altered but sufficient should be provided to keep the reed adequately rigid over the whole width of the cloth and to prevent the reed from sagging and vibrating. The speed at which the shaft 69 rotates can be reduced, for instance, to 25% of the speed of the main shaft 5 by the provision of a dilferent sprocket 72. In this event, every fourth pick is fully beaten up and the other three picks have reduced beating up.

The number of linkages for operating the lifter 61 and toggle joints 104 provided over the cloth width can be altered but only a single spring 74 need be provided for the whole cloth width. Only a single set of control linkages 75, 77 is required.

As an alternative, some other loom attachment, such as a dobby, can be used instead of a Jacquard machine to control the elements shown in the top part of FIG. 2 and in FIG. 3 for overriding the stroke control of the sley. In another possible modification, the lever 48 does not engage around the sley shaft 35 but is pivoted to the lever 43 to one side of the sley shaft so that the sley shaft 35 does not impede the pulling-back of the sley 42 and reed 8 by the slide block.

It will thus be seen that the invention provides a loom comprising a sley shaft 35, a sley 42 coupled to the sley shaft for rotation therewith and translation crosswise thereof, and means to translate the sley relative to the sley shaft. This translation occurs upon slippage of the guide 44 (with reference to which the sley is fixed), over the block 41 which is fixed with reference to the sley shaft. The main loom shaft 5 imposes cyclical oscillatory angular movement on the sley shaft, and the slide block 41 may be regarded as a lever affixed to the sley shaft and extending transversely thereof. By means of the guide 44 the sley engages that lever 41 to be driven thereby through the angular motion executed by that lever 41 and by the sley shaft, and means are provided to adjust the position of the sley lengthwise of that lever 41. In its movement lengthwise of the slide block 41, the sley executes parallel motion. A lever 48 is provided coupled to the sley for shift of the sley lengthwise of the slide block 41 and hence crosswise or transversely of the sley shaft 35, so as to alter the throw of the sley. The levers,

54, 55, 56, 58, 61 and 64 together with the cam 71 driven at reduced speed from the main loom shaft 5 and the hook 59, pin 92 and levers 93, and 102 constitute means coupling the lever 48 to the drive means for the loom at a rate which is a submultiple of the cyclical rate of oscillation of the sley shaft. The levers 93 and 95 are rigid with respect to each other, have a fixed pivot at pin 94, and together with the lever 102 constitute a toggle linkage having a knee at 104. This toggle linkage constitutes part of the means for coupling the lever 48 to the loom drive for cyclical motion at a rate which is a submultiple of the cyclical rate of oscillation of the sley shaft. The lever 61 with its hook 59 is subjected by the linkage comprising elements 54, 55, 56 and 58 to a cyclical oscillatory motion in a generally up and down direction at the same cyclical rate as that of the oscillatory motion of the sley shaft. By operation of the cam 71, roller 68, lever 64 and linkage 62, 63, however, the lever 61 with its hook 59 is additionally subjected to an oscillatory motion in a second direction, namely around the pivot 115, at a cyclical rate which is a submultiple of the cyclical rate of the up and down motion of the lever 61. In the course of this slower cyclical motion, the hook 59 is moved between a first position in which it engages with the pin 92 during the more rapid up and down motion of the lever 61 on the one hand, and a second position (that shown in FIG. 2) in which the lever 61 is during its more rapid up and down motion non-engaging with the pin 92.

We claim:

1. A terry loom sley motion comprising a sley shaft, drive means to impart a cyclical oscillatory arcuate movement to the sley shaft, a block affixed to the sley shaft and extending transversely thereof, a sley movably supported on the block for parallel motion with respect to the block transversely of the shaft, a lever coupled to the sley for shift of the sley on the block transversely of the shaft,

and means coupling said lever to said drive means for cyclical motion at a rate which is a submultiple of the cyclical rate of oscillation of the sley shaft.

2. A loom according to claim 1 wherein said coupling means includes a toggle linkage between said lever and a point fixed with respect to the axis of rotation of the sley shaft.

3. A loom according to claim 2 wherein said coupling means further includes a hook subjected to cyclical oscillatory motion in one direction at the same cyclical rate as that of the oscillatory motion of the sley shaft and to cyclical oscillatory motion in a second direction at a submultiple of said last-mentioned cyclical rate between positions engaging and non-engaging with said toggle linkage.

4. A terry loom sley motion comprising a frame, a sley shaft journaled in said frame, means to oscillate the sley shaft arcuately about its own axis, means affixed to the sley shaft and having bearing surfaces on opposite sides of the axis of the sley shaft defining a path of parallel rectilinear motion transversely of the sley shaft, and a sley engaging said bearing surfaces for motion transversely of the sley shaft.

5. A terry loom sley motion according to claim 4 wherein the sley has afiixed thereto a first circular bearing surface extending with clearance about the sley shaft, the sley motion further comprising an adjusting member having a second circular bearing surface engaging said first bearing surface, and means to move the adjusting member to shift said second bearing surface transversely of the axis of the sley shaft.

6. A terry loom sley motion according to claim 5 wherein said adjusting member comprises a lever having a pin and slot coupling to said frame.

7. A terry loom according to claim 6 wherein said pin and slot coupling include a pin adjustably fixable on said frame.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,444,951 2/1923 Corrigan 13927 2,625,956 1/1953 Sippel 13926 3,265,095 8/1966 Nichols et al. 13926 MERVIN STEIN, Primary Examiner.

HENRY S. JAUDON, Examiner. 

4. A TERRY LOOM SLEY MOTION COMPRISING A FRAME, A SLEY SHAFT JOURNALED IN SAID FRAME, MEANS TO OSCILLATE THE SLEY SHAFT ARCUATELY ABOUT ITS OWN AXIS, MEANS AFFIXED TO THE SLEY SHAFT AND HAVING BEARING SURFACES ON OPPOSITE SIDES OF THE AXIS OF THE SLEY SHAFT DEFINING A PATH OF PARALLEL RECTILINEAR MOTION TRANSVERSELY OF THE SLEY SHAFT, AND A SLEY ENGAGING SAID BEARING SURFACES FOR MOTION TRANSVERSELY OF THE SLEY SHAFT. 